Monthly Archives: June 2012

Neck of the woods“A Libyan delegation is in Baghdad to negotiate the release of countrymen detained in Iraqi prisons, senior officials said on Thursday, adding that eight prisoners have been pardoned. “We will receive some of the (Libyan) prisoners that are in Iraq,” Justice Minister Hmeida Ashur told AFP. “The order for the release of eight prisoners in Iraq was signed yesterday and they will be transferred to Libya in the next couple of days,” he added, without elaborating. He was speaking during a visit to a freshly built courthouse and prison complex in the suburb of Tajura, east of Tripoli, which the interim authorities say reflect broader efforts to revive the judiciary and conduct fair trials. Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil had said on Wednesday that negotiations were under way with Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon to secure the handover of Libyan prisoners there. On Thursday, the head of the Libyan delegation to Baghdad, Suleiman Fortia, said that there are “about 20 Libyan prisoners” being held in Iraq’s penitentiary system……………”

Several Arab countries have sent their Wahhabi Salafi youth to Iraq to join al-Qaeda and mainly to kill Shi’as. Initially I had thought these Salafi terrorists mostly came for Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states and Jordan, but there seem to be many of them from Libya, among other places. There apparently are many now in Syria as well and possibly in northern Lebanon.

The “new” Libya, liberated by NATO bombs and GCC money, seems to be stuck in the old Qaddafi mode of exporting terrorists and weapons and trouble to other lands. Once these terrorists are caught, the Libyan regime seeks to get them released, perhaps so that they can go to Syria and fight with al-Qaeda against the al-Assad regime. Once these terrorists are killed and their souls sent to hell, the new Libyan regime seeks to repatriate their bodies, which makes a lot of political sense now that armed Islamists hold sway over the new democratic Libya.If I were in charge of Iraq (not that anybody is fully in charge in Iraq) I would insist that they be tried according to the laws of the land. After all, their al-Saud sources of ideology insist on trying suspected foreigners in their kangaroo courts and end up chopping their heads off. The Saudis even refuse to send their bodies back home to their families, and everybody is entitled to go home.

Neck of the woods“For months, the protests have aimed at the ruling monarchy, but recently they have focused on a new target. To their familiar slogans — demanding freedoms, praising God and cursing the ruling family — the young protesters added a new demand, written on a placard in English, so the Americans might see: “U.S.A. Stop arming the killers.” Thousands of Bahrainis rose up 16 months ago, demanding political liberties, social equality and an end to corruption. But the Sunni monarchy, seen by the United States and Saudi Arabia as a strategic ally and as a bulwark against Iran, was never left to face the rage on its own. More than a thousand Saudi troops helped put down the uprising and remain in Bahrain, making it a virtual protectorate. The United States, a sometimes critical but ultimately unshakable friend, has called for political reform but strengthened its support for the government. Last month, the Obama administration resumed arms sales here…………”

It was bound to happen, as I opined a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it is a logical reaction to the hypocrisy of the Obama administration and its State Department that has a very selective policy about popular uprisings. (In fairness: actually all nations have selective hypocritical policies toward popular uprisings, not just the USA. That includes Saudi Arabia and Iran ).

Neck of the woods
“Amnesty International todayurged Iran to stop death sentences against two men, whom the Iranian authorities have not named,convicted for the third time of consuming alcohol. The men already have received 80 lashes for two previous convictions. Seyed Hassan Shariati, head of the judiciary in northeastern KhorasanRazavi province, announced that authorities were preparing to carry out the death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court in Tehran. Article 179 of Iran’s Penal Code provides for a mandatory death sentence following a third conviction for drinking alcohol…………..”

It looks like these three men need treatment, if anything, not execution. They probably need to enter a clinic rather than death row; they need the Iranian equivalent of Schick Shadel or the Betty Ford Clinic. This is a ridiculously harsh and inhumane punishment for a victimless ‘crime’. The mullahs, like most other countries in our region, are too fast with judicial murder. The Muslim faith has never stipulated death for drinking alcohol, as far as I know. (FYI: I am no expert, no more than any mufti or shaikh).The death penalty itself should be completely banned everywhere. Even in the capitals of capital punishment: Iran and Saudi Arabia and China and the USA, even in Texas.
Someone (not me of course) might add that, on the upside, Texas may decide to secede if capital punishment is ended in the United States.Cheers
mhgm.h.ghuloum@gmail.com

“Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!” American refrain, circa 1898

“It’s entirely possible that the main mission of the CIA, in this case, is to sort out who’s who among the rebels, since undoubtedly the more level-headed people in Washington are saying to themselves, “Who are these guys?” (I’m wondering that myself.) but it’s equally possible, and more likely, that the CIA is involving itself more deeply in coordinating the weapons flow into Syria. That’s been reported for a while now, and if so it means that the Obama administration is edging closer to an open, armed regime-change strategy aimed at a major Russian and Iranian ally. Meanwhile, even Turkey’s NATO allies seem to be privately ridiculing Turkey’s assertion that its plane was on a training mission. That seems patent nonsense, and much more likely is that Turkey was testing Syria’s air defense and perhaps trying to provoke the creation of a NATO-imposed, Iraq-style no-fly zone in Syria. Had Syrian jets scrambled to protect its air space, by now hawks and quite a few Obama administration officials would be clamoring for a no-fly edict backed by US armed forces. This is dangerous, Tonkin Gulf–style gamesmanship……………”

No doubt the Turkish story about the warplane smells fishy: too many details are left out and no clear explanation given of its mission. Sounds like a classic set-up, an entrapment of the kind Western powers have used in the past for invasion and interference, from Mexico and the Caribbean (USA) to Algeria (France) and Egypt (Britain). Hitler (do I see Netanyahu perk up?) used the tactic against Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland) and Poland (Danzig/Gdansk). I believe the US Senate has passed several equivalents of the Tonkin Gulf resolution by now against both Syria and Iran. The USA and the European Union have done so. It is now highly unlikely that the US Congress, both houses, will oppose military action against either Syria or Iran. That in itself is quite a reversal of American thinking, even of what prevailed under George W Bush. This goes beyond Bush’s war of deterrence, or “if you are not with us you are against us”. This is a policy of “if you remain opposed to us we will eventually attack you”. And it is bi-partisan, just like Tonkin. The aftermath of Tonkin Gulf was quite a waste of so much blood and treasure of both Americans and Asians. Unless they think this one will turn out like Havana and the aftermath of “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!“Cheers
mhgm.h.ghuloum@gmail.com

Neck of the woods
“The President and Crown Prince pledged to sustain the two countries’ joint counter-terrorism and security initiatives in the region. They discussed programs to counter violent extremism and the ideological roots of terrorism, and welcomed the upcoming launch in October in Abu Dhabi of the new Center for Countering Violent Extremism, a project supported by both countries and the international community. The President and Crown Prince reaffirmed their commitment to strong bilateral defense cooperation to enhance regional security and deter any threat of aggression against the UAE. …….…”
Nowwtf would attack the UAE? The Martians? Klingons? Foreign Laborers? Saudi Arabia has had territorial and other disputes with the UAE, still does have border issues. I expect their foreign mercenary force would be enough to beat back any Saudi invasion: even the ragtag Huthi clan of Yemen defeated them a couple of years ago. As for Iran: highly unlikely since they have already got the disputed islands (they claim they’ve regained them) and they would face the mighty U.S. Fifth Fleet right next door in occupied oppressed new Saudi province of Bahrain.Cheers
mhgm.h.ghuloum@gmail.com

Neck of the woods
“Everything I do seems to make me think of you.
Why I dream of you every night,
Why I seem to like you,
I will never know.
All I really know is that you are a bit strange at times.
Other times you are nice.
You are my turkish delight……..” Turkish Delight (Linger City)

“When the Bush administration sought permission to transit its Iraq invasion troops through Turkish territory in early 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara’s soon-to-be installed prime minister and his Justice and Development party (AKP) bluntly refused. Their bold defiance of America’s will won plaudits around the Arab world, not least from Syria……….. with the prospect of a bilateral or regional conflict inching closer following Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish military plane, Erdogan has swiftly changed his tune. Unwilling to take on Assad by himself, Erdogan turned to the US and Nato for support this week. So much for Turkey’s much discussed “strategic realignment”…….. But Erdogan’s vow to target Syrian military formations should they approach their shared border, support opposition forces “at any cost”, and do all he can to bring down the Assad dynasty, barely disguises the weakness of Turkey’s position. Ankara’s twin priorities are both domestic in nature: modernisation and economic growth. Turkey does not want, and cannot afford, a war along its southern border that would jeopardise these aims, further destabilise the Kurdish regions, and seriously compromise its broader regional interests……………”

Whatever happens in Syria now, the Kurds are winners. The Kurds have already won concessions from both the repressive chauvinistic Baathist regime and from the ‘opposition’. The Baath has been forced to recognize the long-denied Kurdish basic rights: both Iraqi and Syrian branches of the Baath Party have been historically chauvinistic, probably influenced by the Nazism and Fascism of Europe where Aflaq and Bitar studied. The opposition has chosen a Kurd as the new head of the Syrian National Council. He is now the most prominent Kurd since Khaled Bikdash led the Communist Party, but this does not disprove that he is a figurehead. A Kurd is much more reassuring to the outside world and to Syria’s worried minorities than some wild Salafi or suspected Muslim brother.

A Kurd is also problematic for Turkey. The Turks prefer calling their own Kurds “Mountain Turks”. Cute, but not convincing, least of all for the Kurds. They also restricted the use of the Kurdish language in education (and in official media). The Turks have long faced a rebellion in their Kurdish region, and their rapprochement with the Iraqi Kurds will not solve that: the solution has to be inside Turkey.

Neck of the woods“Polyoxometalate and zirconium oxide nanocomposites were synthesized by Iranian researchers in order to increase the catalytic and photocatalytic activities of the nanocomposite used to remove organic pollutants. Being used as photocatalysts, polyoxometalates have less efficiency due to their low specific area and the difficulties in the separation of such catalysts from the reaction media. By carrying out studies on various parameters in order to overcome the disadvantages of polyoxometalates (POM), the researchers succeeded in the synthesis of polyoxometalate / zirconium oxide nanocomposite. Among the other advantages of such nanocomposites, mention can be made of their insolubility that allows them to be easily separated from the reaction media. The use of nanocomposites is cost-effective because they are able to be recycled. The nanocomposites were synthesized in order to remove organic pollutants from the environment and to improve their catalytic activity. ………………” One of the most interesting new items I have read today on Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. My initial reaction was a resounding : WTF?
Or maybe it is just me: unlike physics, I never got along well with chemistry for some reason (someone once told me that maybe chemistry was too down to earth for my taste, which sounded odd). There was never much chemistry between me and chemistry. Maybe I am just a bit verwirrt.

Neck of the woods“Is Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a graduate of the Patrice Lumumba People’s Friendship University in Moscow? Did the KGB recruit Khamenei as a spy in the 1960’s? Is Soviet indoctrination and ideological training to blame for Khamenei’s hatred of the United States? The Persian blogosphere is boiling over with speculations about Khamenei’s alleged Soviet connections. The affair started Wednesday, as Iranian bloggers discovered Russia Today’s February 5, 2010 report on the 50th anniversary of the People’s Friendship University in Moscow, in which Khamenei is mentioned among the university’s “most notable graduates.” A claim also appears on Russia Today’s website, although the reference is made to “Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini,” an obvious mistake. Subsequently, Iranian bloggers identified other Russian sources making the very same claim: The November 25, 2003 issue of Kommersant presents Khamenei as a People’s Friendship University graduate…………….” Patrice Lumumba University was named after the murdered first Congolese prime minister after independence from Belgium. Lumumba was allegedly killed by Congolese rivals and Western intelligence services. I believe that to be true: Lumumba was perceived as a ‘communist’ by the West during the peak of the Cold War. The Soviet university attracted many third world students, and it is possible that a young Khamenei was among them, but it is highly unlikely. I doubt it very much: he must have started as a student of Islamic faith at a young age. Or maybe he was groomed as a communist mole inside Qom, a potential Manchurian Ayatollah. If true this would mean that Khamenei also speaks Russian in addition to Persian, Arabic, and Turkish. He is as much a communist as the Saudi Mufti is a secret Shi’a, as much as Bashar al-Assad is a Salafi.Cheers
mhgm.h.ghuloum@gmail.com

“Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool
Loving both of you is breaking all the rules
Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool
Loving you both is breaking all the rules…….”Mary MacGregor

“Radical Islamist groups are evolving in Syria. An audio recording has been released by Saudi Majed al-Majed, emir of al-Qaeda’s Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who left Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon over a month ago. The latest statement from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which was released as an audio recording, does not resemble the organization’s other statements in terms of tone, form, or content. The introductory section declared allegiance to Saudi Majed Muhammad al-Majed (b. 1973) as the emir of the organization in the Levant. Al-Majed, who is one of the most wanted men in Lebanon, left Ain el-Helweh refugee camp last month, heading for the battlefields of Syria. Declaring a Saudi from the Arabian Peninsula as the emir of the Levant is an unusual move for al-Qaeda, which is known to pick leaders according to their respective nationalities………..”

Syria has had its share of “foreign” masters since the Romans left involuntarily about fourteen centuries ago. The final chapter was supposed to have been written after World War I when the British appointed Faisal Ibn Al Hussein of Hijaz as King of Syria, after they had “liberated” the Levant form Turkish occupation. He was the second Hijazi to start a new dynasty in Syria. Fourteen centuries before him the Hijazi Mu’awiya Ibn Abu Sufyan (an opportunistic Umayyad and most of his life a tough pagan enemy of Islam) declared himself Caliph after the death of Imam Ali, the fourth rightful Caliph in Kufa (Iraq). His power base and capital was Damascus and his dynasty lasted a little more than one century. Faisal did not last long in Syria: France invaded and kicked him out (the British gave him Iraq as a consolation prize). There was no Saudi Arabia at the time: the al-Saud were cornered in their own homeland of Nejd in those days, having barely defeated Ibn Rasheed (al-Rasheed). Still this new al-Majed clown of al-Qaeda comes from the Arabian Peninsula, like the earlier ones, and he is Saudi. Does this mean that when and if the al-Assad regime is finished the Saudis will control Syria? If and when the Baathists fall I suspect there will be competition between the al-Saud, the Qatari al-Thani, and the Turks over running Syria. The first two have a lot of money to spend in Syria (actually only the al-Thani Qataris can afford that, the Saudis have so many princes who grab the money that they can’t afford to spend so much). The Turks have the advantage of proximity and the muscle and, more important, a seeming workable political and economic system. But this Arab competition we are talking about here will be through the Muslim Brothers and the more pro-Saudi Salafis rather than al-Qaeda as we know it. The Saudis probably now think they will be happy just to see the Iranian influence in Syria ended (as do all Western powers), but they will then face an even more powerful Turkey which used to rule Syria (as well as parts of what is now Saudi Arabia). Turkey will provide an even more compelling example of a democratic (sort of) Islamic state than either theocratic Iran or Kleptocratic Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Of course the Wahhabi jihadists like al-Qaeda are getting stronger in Syria, being fed Arab volunteers and money and arms. They are very likely to hang around there for a long time, just as they are in Iraq.

Neck of the woods“Amine Zigta is not a timid man. If he was, he would not have risked his life by escaping indefinite enforced army service in Eritrea, or making the hazardous journey through Sudan and the Sinai desert to Israel. Nor would he have kept open his corner bar in south Tel Aviv after 15 local hoodlums shouting “what do you care, you black son of a bitch?” broke off table legs in March after he refused to serve teenagers below the legal drinking age. “But now,” Mr Zigta, 36, says in fluent Hebrew, “I am afraid, all the time. At night I can’t sleep. I am in danger.” Given subsequent events, his fears are understandable. On 23 May, with a demonstration against African refugees planned for the evening, he locked up at around 4pm. Hours later, residents phoned to say demonstrators were breaking in. Mr Zigta went to two police stations for help and was still waiting at a third when he got another call to say a police patrol had finally turned up. When he arrived, he found the plate glass windows smashed by bricks, tables upturned and all his stock stolen by looters….……. The minister has suggested that “most” African migrants are criminals, and that many, including rapists, are HIV positive. Arguing that the refugees threaten the “Zionist dream”, he has claimed that most are Muslims. ………..” Cheers
mhgm.h.ghuloum@gmail.com